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05-Sep-2003

PRESS RELEASE: independent media refused DSEi accreditation

by: PN office

London:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Weekend contact: Ippy 07880 730537

Independent media refused DSEi accreditation

After applying in July to cover the DSEi 2003 international arms fair being held at London’s Excel centre (9-12 September), Peace News (PN) is disappointed that the organisers – Spearhead Exhibitions Ltd - have refused PN media accreditation to cover this event.

Peace News Ltd is a small, independent international antimilitarist print and online publisher. Established in 1936, Peace News has consistently provided coverage of both grassroots activist campaigns and of mainstream stories, from a critical perspective.
While Peace News is very open about its editorial objectives (1) the editor and news team hoped that by providing online coverage of DSEi – from both inside and outside the exhibition centre - PN could provide fair and accurate reporting of this event and could ask questions at the DSEi 2003 press conference that may have been difficult for mainstream journalists to put forward.

Peace News news editor Caroline Lauer – the applicant for accreditation – is a professional journalist (working in the mainstream media as well as for Peace News ) and an NUJ member. She is not a member of any exciting activist organisations and has no criminal record.

However, in an email (2) on 22 August Emma Welch for Spearhead stated that “we have taken the decision to refuse entry to the exhibition to all media that are interested in visiting with other motives in mind”. [Our emphasis.] With Spearhead failing to elaborate on what they mean by “other motives” Peace News can only arrive at the conclusion that the event organsisers were keen to protect their exhibitors from difficult lines of questioning during the press conference – for example into the impact of the arms trade on civilian populations.

Comment from Peace News editor:
“In democratic societies the value of a free and independent press cannot be underestimated. Independent media journalists are in a position to ask the questions which open up areas for discussion by all.
The refusal of Spearhead to accredit Peace News for this event merely adds to the popular view that a group of death dealers want to get on with their secretive deals far away from any critical view. “

ENDS

TIMELINE

1. 8 July: Caroline Lauer sends initial email to DSEi media team requesting accreditation for Peace News
2. 21 July: Follow-up email sent
3. 29 July: Peace News hears from Alex Nichols (alex.nicholl@dsei.co.uk) that we will receive confirmation of accreditation within two weeks
4. 21 August: Emma Welch (Emma.Welch@Spearhead.co.uk) emails PeaceNews: “Unfortunately the exhibition is only open to media from the defence press and to defence correspondents from national and international media so we will not be able to accredit you to visit DSEi 03”
5. 22 August: Caroline Lauer emails Emma Welch pointing out that Peace News is an international provider of news and analysis and that our whole business is that which is euphemistically referred to as “defence”.
6. 22 August: Emma Welch emails Peace News adding that the reason we have been declined accreditation is that they “have the right to refuse entry to anyone that we think will not be beneficial to the exhibitors” (full text see note 2).
7. 29 August: Jeremy Dear (General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists) writes confidential letter to Emma Welch requesting that Caroline Lauer be “grant[ed]…credentials to attend the exhibition”
8. 5 September: Spearhead/Emma Welch have not responded to the NUJ or Peace News . After leaving what we believe to be a reasonable amount of time for them to respond, we take the decision to go public.

NOTES:

1.See http://www.peacenews.info/info/about/editorial_objectives.html
2.“As the organisers of the exhibition we have the right to refuse entry to anyone that we think will not be beneficial to the exhibitors. We are, for the first time, allowing the international and national broadcast media into the exhibition to demonstrate that there is nothing illegal on display. However, we have taken the decision to refuse entry to the exhibition to all media that are interested in visiting with other motives in mind as our exhibitors use DSEi as a platform to demonstrate their capabilities and should be able to continue their business without distraction. For that reason we have decided not to accredit Peace News on this occasion.”
Excerpt of email from Emma.Welch@Spearhead.co.uk, 22 August 2003.